DENVER, CO - APRIL 28: With only 1/2 mile left to go, runners took advantage of the last water station to drink water or throw it on themselves to cool off. The 31st annual Cherry Creek Sneak had all sorts of distances for this year's race. The Sneak, as it is affectionately named, had a 10 mile, 5 mile, 3.1 mile or 5K, a 1.5 mile Denver's 7 Sprint, and a kid's fun run for thousands of competitors, runners and walkers that turned out in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver, CO on April 28, 2013. The race is always held the last Sunday in April. This year participants cheered the national anthem and observed a moment of silence for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing at the start of each race. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

DENVER, CO - APRIL 28: Runners start the 5K race. The 31st annual Cherry Creek Sneak had all sorts of distances for this year's race. The Sneak, as it is affectionately named, had a 10 mile, 5 mile, 3.1 mile or 5K, a 1.5 mile Denver's 7 Sprint, and a kid's fun run for thousands of competitors, runners and walkers that turned out in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver, CO on April 28, 2013. The race is always held the last Sunday in April. This year participants cheered the national anthem and observed a moment of silence for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing at the start of each race. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

DENVER, CO - APRIL 28: A Denver Police bomb squad truck sits at the race start. The 31st annual Cherry Creek Sneak had all sorts of distances for this year's race. The Sneak, as it is affectionately named, had a 10 mile, 5 mile, 3.1 mile or 5K, a 1.5 mile Denver's 7 Sprint, and a kid's fun run for thousands of competitors, runners and walkers that turned out in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver, CO on April 28, 2013. The race is always held the last Sunday in April. This year participants cheered the national anthem and observed a moment of silence for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing at the start of each race. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

DENVER, CO - APRIL 28: Runners take off at the start of the 5K race. The 31st annual Cherry Creek Sneak had all sorts of distances for this year's race. The Sneak, as it is affectionately named, had a 10 mile, 5 mile, 3.1 mile or 5K, a 1.5 mile Denver's 7 Sprint, and a kid's fun run for thousands of competitors, runners and walkers that turned out in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver, CO on April 28, 2013. The race is always held the last Sunday in April. This year participants cheered the national anthem and observed a moment of silence for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing at the start of each race. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Participants cheered the national anthem and observed a moment of silence for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, but runners at Sunday’s Cherry Creek Sneak expressed little fear that terrorists might target the annual race.

“I have concern just going to the grocery store anymore, so it doesn’t matter if I am here or somewhere else,” said Katie Golenzer, 44, as she readied to run the 5K, one of several races in the event.

Police on hand at the race were on “a heightened sense of awareness” after the bombing earlier this month, said Denver police spokesman John White.

It was the 31st year for the Sneak, which attracts runners — and walkers — of all ages.

But it was the first time visually impaired runners joined in the fun, many of them running with guides provided by Lending Sight, a U.S. Association of Blind Athletes sport club that offers free guides and training for visually impaired runners.

Kathleen Winfield, 63, was joined by guide Colby Harmon, 72, for the first 5K she had ever been involved in. Winfield, who has some residual vision, was planning to walk the event. “I’m not athletic enough” to run, she said. “I just came because I thought it would be fun and a chance to participate in an event with a lot of people.”

Every year more than 10,000 runners participate in the 10-mile, 5-mile, 3.1-mile (5K) and 1.5-mile courses, according to a website for the event, which is sponsored by Sports Authority, Volkswagen and others.

John R. Garcia, 38, said he has been participating in duathlons over the past year. Unlike triathlons, in which participants run, cycle and swim, duathlons require only running and cycling.

“I’m not a good swimmer, since I sink,” Garcia said. Duathlons provide plenty of training for the Cherry Creek run, he said. “I’m just coming out here for fun.”

Justin Glantz, 32, a Broomfield police officer, arrived with a group of friends, some of whom had run the 5K race in the past. “They invited us down to enjoy it with them,” he said.

The most difficult part of the run, he said, was “getting out of bed and getting going.”

Donna Sammons, 67, doesn’t run regularly and didn’t train for the event, which she heard about at Cherry Creek Wellness Center, where she takes physical therapy. “They encouraged clients to do this. I am going to walk it.”

Beth Gage, 43, said she has participated for the past three or four years, and the Cherry Creek Sneak has become part of her spring ritual. “I only jog between March 1 and the Cherry Creek Sneak, then I quit for the rest of the year,” Gage said.

Tristan Mitchell, 27, a personal trainer, won the men’s 10-mile race with a time of 56 minutes, 59 seconds. Throughout the year, he said, he runs an average of 50-plus miles a week. “It’s an addiction for me, it keeps me happy. I am a grumpy, grumpy man when I’m not running.”

Nicole Chyr, 35, placed first in the women’s 10-mile run with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes. Chyr was planning to run another 6 miles before calling it a day. “I’m training for the Colfax Marathon. I’m going to do another 6 so I will get 16 miles all told.”

A general assignment reporter for The Denver Post, Tom McGhee has covered business, police, courts, higher education and breaking news. He came to The Post from Albuquerque, N.M., where he worked for a year and a half covering utilities. He began his journalism career in New York City, worked for a pair of community weeklies that covered the west side of Manhattan from 14th Street to 125th Street.

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